Safety lock lever



March .6, 1945.

,E. R. SCHRQEDER SAFETY LOCK LEVER Fil ed Sept. 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVVENTQR I [m es! fiScfi-raeder u ATTORNEY rch E. R. SCHROEDER 2,370,998

SAFETY LOCK LEVER Filed Spt. 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 6, 1945 SAFETY LOCK LEVER Ernest R. Schroeder, Hawthorne, N; J., assignor'to American :Gar and Foundry Company, New York. rN. Y. a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationSeptember 25, 1941, Serial No. 412,334 6 Claims (01.105411) This invention relates to. lock levers in general.

and in particular to lock levers for use on drop bottom mine cars.

Practically all drop bottom mine cars as now built are provided with doors hung on trans versely extending hinge axes and with at least the rearmost door held in raised position .by means of a latch or locklever carried bythe end wall or end sill structure of the car. order to make these cars automatic the. lever controlling the lock extends to" the side of the car sufficiently to be raised byproper trackside equipment, thus releasing the lock and dropping the door. Since it is necessary for the arm to project to the side orthe car, obviously. this lever will strike any tracksideobstructions and be easily bent or in some cases moved'to anunlatched position releasing the door in the mine with consequent delay,' tying up the entire mine opera tion. Certain cars of the. automatic drop bottom type have been constructed with latching dogs engaging the. lock lever to prevent'nits' being] raised, but these have not been satisfactory for.

they did not in any way prevent the bending of the lock trip lever. It is an object, therefore, or

the present inventionto' provide a lever iorfopcrating the door latch; which'lever has 'a movable end portionmovable to a positionwithinthe.

clearanceliinits of. the car. i

A further object of the inventionjis tively' lock the lever against accidental release.

A stillfurther object 'ofzthe invention is the provision of a jointed latch lever for drop botthe provision of amulti-p'art' latch leverfor dr'op bottom cars with parts of theleVer movable to posiv be seenthat the various forms of latch' levers" pierced to receive a pivot'pin .20 upon which the inner'part 22""01' thelat'chlever is pivoted. The

tom mine cars with a part. of the lever movable from an operative to an imperative position in which it locks the lever againstaccidental movement.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from. a

study of the following descriptionandsaccom panying drawings, in which: I

Figure 1 is anend view of a drop bottom mine car with the improved latch lever applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is anenlarged inverted plan view of a portion of the improvedlatch lever with parts broken away to. better disclose the construction; Fig. 3 is a sectionalview taken substantially'on line 3..-3 of Fig. 1;-' I

Fig. 4 is a partial end view similar to Fig. 1 butshowingthe' latch lever in the locked position; I Fig. 5 is a partial end view of' a drop bottom mine car .showihgfla' slightly, modified form of latch lever; 1 Figs; 6. and? are sectionalxviews taken ubstantiallypn lines 6Band 'l-Trespectively of.

Fig. 8 is a partial'end'view oi the lever of Fig.

5 but showing the lever in locked position; Fig." 9 .is. a partial endviewtoffa' drop bottom" mine car. with a still further modification'of the.

latch leverappliedthereto;

Fig. 10 is a partial end view of. the lever'of Fig. 9 but showing the lever in collapsed posi-.

tion and located Wholly within the clearance h m its of the'ca'r, and

t Fig. .11 is an'endviewof the latch lover of Figs.

9 and 10. Y

Referring nowto the drawings in detail, it will have been applied to the .end' wall 2 or a drop bottom mine car having it drop door 4 hinged in any suitable mannerto" the side sills6. The side sills have attached thereto, as is customary; bracesor gussets a supporting the side wings of the. {car and givingxthem added rigidity. Any suitable type of end construction" and bumper Ill is attached to the side sills to completetheirame. of. the car and to permit of it's'operatioh intrain.

The car is supported upon track rails'jl l bymeaiis' of. wheels I 2, as iscusto'mary; The carendwall's are suitably braced by members It and carry; in the present case, a plate leto which is"at-,

tached an offset plate 18, ,both plates being latch lever has attached thereto in any suitable manner a hook portion fi24"adapted to engage under. and support a tongue 26carriedby' the drop bottom door. The hook is constantly urged toward door supporting position b means' of a compression spring .28" interposed between "the inner: endof the lever and "a bracket 30 fastened to the end structure of timber. -In-order to supportthe lever whenth'e' door is'opemas wellas to guide the-lever in its; vertical movement'sa combined guide and supportistrap' 32 is" attached to the end wall structure Oi" the "car: .The'con SllrllCtlOl'I asdescribed so tar lsmore. or less stand ard, yet subje'ctto slightvariations, suchas sup porting the door latch leverupon an end' sill element independently of the end wall Ofthe car.

In the form; shown in' Figs; 1 to4 inclusive; the" mainpart of the latch lever 22"is:fo'rmed byflan angle memberextendingfoutwardly substantially? to the clearanceilimit's ofthecara'nd having the upper flange thereof cut oi! as at; leaving the end portion of the lever a fiat plate, as clearly shown in the figures. In order to stiffen the end portion of the main part of the latch lever a short length of angle 36 is provided, having one leg 31 extendin vertically and welded to the upper leg ducing spaced plates adapted to be pierced and ance limits of the car and protected against disreceive the pivot pin 42 upon which the latch leverl extension 44 may swing. The latch lever extension is provided with a tongue 45.adapted to engage the upper horizontal leg of the main latch lever and also is provided with an inclined'surface 1 tortion since they cannot strike trackside obstructions during movements of the car through the mine or mine workings. When it is desired to put the latch in a position for automatic rev lease, orto manually release the latch, it is only necessary for an operator to lift upwardly, that is, cause clockwise rotation of the latch lever extension from the position of Fig. 4 to the position of Fig. 1.

In the form 'or modification shown in Figs. 5

- to 8 inclusive, the'main latch lever is constructed 46 and merging into a roundedportion- 41 terl minating in a flat portion 48, this flat portion being arranged at an angle to the longitudinal plane of the extension and merging into a ledge 49 adapted, when the extension is in folded position, to engage under the guide and support strap 32, all as clearly shown in Fig.4. In order to re.-

inforce the plate like extensions of the main latch lever, as well as to assist the projection 45 in holding the latch lever extension" in operative position, a U-shaped strap 50 is welded or otherwise secu'redito the platelike extensions of the main lever. This U-shaped strap also, as shown in Fig. 4, forms a stop preventing excessive inward I swinging of the latch lever extension whenit is in folded position and would prevent a jamming of the mechanism such as would occurif the main latch lever were in raised position and the ex tension accidentally folded. Control and reten-.

tion of the lever extension in its operative and inoperative 'or locked positions is obtained by.

substantially identical to that previously described in connection with Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive and accordingly the same reference numerals have been applied thereto. In this form, however, the lower horizontal leg of angle 'SBis' extended outwardly substantially to the pivot pin 42 before it is out off to permit swinging ofthe latch lever extension 54. The latch leverextension in this modification is substantially a flat plate except for a locking notch 56 and .an inclined nose 5?,

' plate like end portions of the main latch lever means of a plunger 5! riding in the bo'xlike por- 7 tion of the main latch lever and'urged outwardly. by a compression spring 52 hearing against the plunger-and against a plate 53 welded or 'other-.

wise secured to the angles 22 and '36.

As clearly seen 'from the preceding description, the main part of the latch lever and the latch,

leverextension' will be in the positions shown in Fig. when the car approaches the dumping station. In this position the extension 44 is held. substantially "in alignment with the main part of, the latch leverthrough engagement of plunger'fil with inclined surface 46. and upward thrust of the pivoted extension necessary to unlatch the door will-be resisted by the pivot 42, extension. 45

and, if necessary, U strap 50. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1 the car latch lever;

will to all intents and pu oses operate identically with those levers now applied to the bulk of drop bottom cars. When, however, the car is being on the surface of extension 44 outwardly of pivot 42. Application of downward pressure by any means to the pivoted extension 44 will cause inclined surface 45 to force theplunger 5| toward the center of the car, after which the plunger will ride over the curved surface 41 until it reaches the angular portion 48. After reaching'the angular portion 48 the compressed spring 52 will, through plunger EI/force the latch lever extension to swin in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in the figures,,thus'bringirig ledge 49 be neath the guide and support strap 32;"in which' are again reinforced by a U-shaped strap 58 welded or otherwise secured thereto and having one leg extended downwardly a considerable 'dis-' tance over leg 31, of angle 36 and having attached ther'eto'outwardly directed plates or ears 60 which are piercedto receive a pivot pin 62 as clearly shown in Fig. 6. The pivot pinf62 has'attached thereto apivot catch 64 having hooked end as The weighted end is provided to constantly 'urge'the catch into a,

and a weighted upper end 66.

position in which it supports andretains the latch lever extension in the operative position shown in Figs. 5 and 6. When, however, the catch is moved to the broken line position of Fig. 6, the pivoted extension 54 is released and will drop by gravityinto the position 'shownin'Fig. 8, after which release, of the catch will cause the weighted end to swing the catch into' the full line position of Figs. 6 and 8, in which position it positively retains the latch lever extension 54 in position with hookedledge 56 beneath the -guideand support strap 32. Here again the U-shaped. reinforcement 58 prevents excessive swinging of the latch lever extension in a counterclockwise direction, thereby preventing. jamming of the mechanism in case catch 64 is accidentally released when the latch leveris in raised position.

When the lever parts are in the position shown in Fig. 5 by, full line, the latch lever extension 54 in effect forms a rigid extension for the main part of the latch lever, .sinceit is held against counterclockwise rotation by'the catch 64 and against clockwise rotation about the pivotpin' li' through engagement of the inner'part of .the latch lever extension with the lower fiange 33' of an l 36.. The plunger 5|, of course, assists catch 64 in retaining the pivoted latch lever extension in the operative positionras shown" in full line by Fig. 5. When it is desired to return the car to the mine'or mine workings catch 64 is moved to the broken line position'of Fig. 6, after which the pivoted latch lever extension 54 may be forced in a counterclockwise direction to the full, line position of Fig. 8.- In this position the latch aamess lever is locked against vertical movement-through engagement of the. folded extensionwith .the sup-. porting strapt-32. and theufolded' extension-is in tumlocked inposition by meansof catch .64. against. unauthorized movement. In thefolded position the latchlever extension is positively held in a positionwholly within the clearance limits of the ear. Movement of catch 64. to the broken lineposition of Fig. 6 will release pivoted latch lever extension 54. and it may then be swungclockwise from the position of Fig. 8 to thefull line position of Fig. '5, again placingthe' latch lever in condition for operation .by track-: sideequipment. a

In them'odificationshown .by. Figs. 9 to 11 111*.

.clusive the latch lever 10. is. of tubularformation with a flattened portion 12, by means of which the lever'is pivoted on pivot pin 20. The inner end of the tubular latchzlever is closed byme'ans of a plate 13 weldedror otherwise secured thereto and adapted to coactwith spring .28 in .re-: taining the latch .hook 24 in engagement with the door projection 26. The 'outer end of the tubularrlatch lever is threaded andhas secured thereon a modified cap 15, which cap is provided with a central 'openingJB and 2a projecting hook like finger l8. A'cylindricallatch lever extension 84 ofeither, tubular-or solid construction is mounted to slide within the tubular main latch lever. This latch lever extension in the present case is of tubularform and has attached to its outer end a plug member 86 having a finger 88 formed thereon, which finger is adapted to rest within the hook like member 18 of the main part of the latch lever cap as clearly shown in Figs. and 11. The inner portion of the latch lever extension is provided with spaced bearing rings level: is -:lockedi'.byi :the extension .against: :iaccia dental releasing movement. .1 V .Whiie the inventionhas been described more or less in detail, with specific reference to certain modifications, it will'be obvious, topersons skilled in theart that various other modifications and rearrangements of parts. maybe made and all such'modifications and rearrangements of parts are contemplatedasfall within the scope of. the appendedclaims defining myinvention.

What is claimed is: 1

. 1..In a drop bottom minecar adapted to run on tracks, a drop bottom vdoorhingedly carried by-the car, a latch assembly carried bythe car and. normally engaging. the. door to retain the same in closed position and movable to a position releasing the door for opening-said assembly ineluding-a main. latch lever located wholly within theicleara'nce limits of the car, and a latch lever extension movably carried by the main latch lever adjacentmh'e outer 'end thereof, said latchlever extension being movable. from a first position withinth'e clearance limits of the car to a second position in which it projects beyond the clearance limits of the car, and said assembly also includdoor hingedly carried by the car, a latch assembly 90 closely fitting the inside of the tubular main latch lever part in order that the extension may not tilt within the tubular latch lever part,

With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 9 the latch lever and its extension will operate in much the same manner as the standard latch now used on the bulk of drop bottom mine cars. When, however, the car is to be sent into' the mine or traverse the mine workings, the latch lever extension 84 is pushed into the tubular main part of the latch lever and finger 88 turned so as to engage in the hook like projection 18 of cap member 15, thus retaining the latch lever extension in the position shown in Fig. 10. In this position the latch lever is located within the clearance limits of the car making it impossible for the same to contact trackside obstructions. Release of the latch lever extension is accomplished by merely rotating finger 88 out of the hook like member 18 and pulling outwardly, thus placing the extension in the position shown in Fig. 9.

From the preceding description of the various modifications and their operations, it will,be seen that the latch lever extension, when in anoperative position, will cause the latch lever to operate in substantially an identical manner with the present standard type of latch lever. When, however, the latch lever extension is placed in an inoperative position, that is, an inoperative position so far as release of the drop bottom door is concerned, then the latch lever parts are wholly within the clearance limits of the car and trackside obstructions can not bend or distort the lever. Also, in the forms shown in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, when the latch lever extension is in its inoperative position so far as release of the door is concerned, then the main part of the latch pivotally carried by the car and having a part normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position and movable to release the door for opening, said assembly including a main latch lever part located wholly. within the clearance limits of the car, a latch lever extension pivotally carried by the mainlatch lever part, said extension being swingable from a folded position within the clearance limits of the car to an operative position forming an extension of the main lever part and projecting beyond the clearance limits of the car, a plunger carried by said main latch lever part and slidable longitudinally thereof, and a spring constantly urging said plunger into engagement with said latch-lever extension to automatically retain the same in the operative position.

3. In a drop bottom mine car, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, a latch assembly pivotally carried by the car and having a part normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position and movable to release the door for opening, said assembly including a main latch lever part located wholly within the clearance limits of the car, a latch lever extension pivotally carried by the main latch lever part, said extension being swingable from a folded position within the clearance limits of the car to an operative position forming an extension of the main lever part and projecting beyond the clearancelimits of the car, and a catch means pivotally carried by said main latch lever part and swingsion in folded position. V

5. In a drop bottom mine car, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, a latch assembly pivotally carried by the car and having a part normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position and movable to release the dOOr for opening, said assembly including a main latch lever part located wholly within the clearance limits of the car, a latch lever extension pivotally carried by the main latch lever part, said exten-' sion being swingable from a folded position within the clearance limits of the car to an operative position forming an extension of the main lever part and projecting beyond the clearance limits of the car, said latch lever extension when in folded position engaging a fixed part of the car to lock the latch assembly against movement, a spring urged plunger carried by said main latch lever and slidable longitudinally thereof to yieldirigly retain said latch lever extensionin' opera tive position, and a catch means pivotally carried by said main latch lever part and swingable transversely thereof to positively retain said latch lever extension in folded position and in engagement with said fixed part of the car.

6. In a drop bottom mine car, a drop bottom door hingedly carried by the car, alatch assembly pivotally carried by the car and having a part normally engaging the door to retain the same in raised position and movable to release the door for opening, said assembly including a main latch lever part located wholly within the clearance limits of the car, a latch lever extension pivotally carried by the main latch lever part, said extension being swingable from a folded position within the clearance limits of the car to an operative position forming an extension of the main lever part and projecting beyond'the clearance limits of the car, a spring urged plunger carried by said main latch lever and slidable longitudinally thereof to yieldingly retain said latch lever extension in the operative position, and a catch carried by the main latch lever and swingable transversely thereof to lock'said latch lever ex tension in said operative position in which it projects beyond the car clearance limits.

ERNESTRh SCI-IROEDER. 

